Coronavirus: Social Security recipients won’t need to file return to get stimulus check; Va. could see April-May surge

The latest

• The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that Social Security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive a coronavirus stimulus check.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam “expects a surge between late April and late May.”
• Falls Church, Virginia, is ending its school year 13 days early.
• D.C. is reporting 91 new cases, for a total of 586. Eleven are dead.
• There are now seven new D.C. Fire and EMS members with coronavirus, and four D.C. police members with cases. The new testing brings FEMS total cases to 21 and D.C. police’s total cases to 13, as of Tuesday.
• The Carroll County, Maryland, health department announced three new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday. All were residents at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy.

The symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Health officials say that if you have these symptoms, you should call your doctor (don’t just show up; they need to get ready for you). If you don’t have a doctor and you live in D.C. or the nearby Maryland suburbs, call (844) 796-2797. If you live in Virginia, call 211.

Virginia

Gov. Northam expects surge in late April-May

Saying “I want Virginians to be realistic in their expectations,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday that according to the models he had seen, he expected coronavirus cases in the commonwealth to surge between late April and late May.

“Right now, we are at the beginning of this virus,” Northam said. “We are talking months, not weeks” before life returns to normal.

Speaking on the first of the month, Northam acknowledged that the rent is due for a lot of people who have been laid off or furloughed from their jobs. He said that delays of up to three months are available on payments on federal mortgages issued through the Virginia Housing Department Authority, and that evictions were suspended for tenants with public housing vouchers.

He added that a judicial emergency had been declared through April 26, meaning that all eviction proceedings statewide are suspended until then. He also encouraged all jobless Virginians to apply for unemployment benefits.

Northam and several other Virginia state officials provided updates on a variety of aspects of the virus’ effect on the state, and the state’s response.

Virginia’s health commissioner, Dr. Norman Oliver, said officials are working on Virginia-specific models for the spread of the virus, and said that more accurate and specific predictions of the peak on infections in Virginia should be available in a few days.

Northam said at the Wednesday briefing that the state had gotten a third supply of personal protective equipment from the national stockpile, but said the state needs more.

“We need as much [PPE] as we can get right now, bottom-line. There’s no such thing as too much,” he said.

In the current moment, without a strong federal coordination of resources and distribution, he added, “We’re competing with each other; we’re competing with other countries.”

The governor said the Army Corps of Engineers had narrowed down the list of potential sites for temporary hospitals to three: the former Exxon Mobil site in Fairfax, next to Inova Fairfax; the Hampton Convention Center; and an unspecified site in the Richmond area.

The increased capacity may not mean much if the supplies of personal protective equipment doesn’t grow as well, though: Asked by WTOP’s Max Smith whether the shortages of staff and low supplies of equipment will crimp the effectiveness of field hospitals, “If that supply does not increase, we will indeed have that same constraint,” said Dr. Daniel Carey, the secretary of health and human resources.

The goal is to have sufficient supplies by the time the projected spike comes in late April, Carey said, but “there’s no question that if PPE supplies are not dramatically increased in the weeks ahead, we will not be able to protect the current health care workers in their current setting, let alone expanded capacity.”

Dr. Denise Toney, director of the Department of General Service’s Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, provided a bright spot, saying that the state had been able to double its capacity to turn around COVID-19 tests in the past week, from 100 a day to 200.

Public Safety Secretary Brian Moran said that Virginia prisons were following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding quarantine and contact investigation.

He added that the two prisons at which infected people were detected were on “modified lockdown,” with limited movement, but with outdoor recreation still taking place.

Moran also said, “The parole board has been working overtime,” having released 96 people on parole in March, a 153% increase over the previous month.

Northam also said that, as of now, the local elections scheduled for next month, and primary elections in June, are still on, but he encouraged Virginians to apply for an absentee ballot.

As of Wednesday, there are 305 people in hospitals, with 145 people in intensive care and 108 on ventilators.

Spotsylvania marks 1st death

Spotsylvania marked its first death Wednesday: a man in his 60s from Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.

“On behalf of Spotsylvania, we would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the county resident who died, as well as the entire community affected by this outbreak,” said Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Skinner.

“Protecting the health and safety of our residents is our top priority, and we will continue working together with local and state health officials, as well as the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, to ensure our community continues to be informed and updated on this rapidly changing situation, and to ensure the needs of Spotsylvania County are met.”

Falls Church ending ends online school learning early

Students across Virginia are not going to school buildings but are attending online sessions.

Falls Church will end its school year 13 days early on June 4 for students and June 5 for teachers.

The school year would have ended June 17 for students and June 18 for teachers.

Virginia DOC confirms 1st COVID-19 cases among its inmates

The Virginia Department of Corrections announced late Tuesday that three people had tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first confirmed cases among inmates in a state correctional facility.

The inmates are incarcerated at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland, the department said in a statement.

Three employees and one contractor have also tested positive, the department said.

Read the full story.

DC

District coronavirus cases, deaths rise

D.C. coronavirus cases went up again Wednesday, with 91 new cases, bringing the total to 586.

Deaths in the District stand at 11.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she doesn’t think any ventilators have yet been delivered to the District by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

She also asked renters to “do their best” to pay rent, but asked landlords and other housing providers to be “patient” given the economic conditions in D.C. and nationwide, and reminded them that, under the state of emergency, tenants can’t be evicted and late fees can’t be charged.

Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety, said that 20 inmates in the D.C. Jail have been released early, and 25 more would be let go later Wednesday, under the emergency legislation passed by the D.C. Council allowing for the doubling of “good-time credits.”

He said that at the time the legislation was passed about 80 out of 1,500 inmates were eligible for such credits. He added that they were applying the credit “as aggressively as the law allows.”

Tensions escalated toward the end of the news conference, with Bowser telling one reporter, “I don’t have a problem with the press listening to anything. We report out every day. You … probably asked me 15 questions in the last 30 minutes. So we’re here to answer your questions.”

In addition, Ward infection numbers were released:

Number of first responders with coronavirus grows

The District released new numbers Wednesday on the number of first responders who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Fire Emergency Medical Services has seven new cases.

D.C. police have four new cases.

That brings the total FEMS cases to 21 and the total D.C. police cases to 13.

Starting Wednesday, the District said it will report daily coronavirus data by approximately 10 a.m. each morning.

See the latest test results from around the region.

Maryland

2nd COVID-19 death in Montgomery Co.

Officials in Montgomery County announced on Wednesday that a man in his 60s was the county’s second death from the coronavirus.

The county government said in a statement that the man went to a hospital March 27 after experiencing symptoms, tested positive for COVID-19 and died a few hours later.

“Our hearts go out to his friends and family and we send our sincere condolences,” said County Executive Marc Elrich in the statement.

County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said, “Our thoughts are with this man’s family. Unfortunately, with the virulence of this disease, we may see additional deaths before we see the end of this pandemic locally.”

Mount Airy deaths increase

The Carroll County Health Department announced three new deaths from coronavirus Tuesday.

All three were residents at Pleasant View Nursing Home and had underlying medical conditions, according to authorities.

The first individual was a man in his 70s, the second was also a man in his 70s and the third was a woman in her 60s.

There are 77 total positive COVID-19 cases from Pleasant View Mount Airy, all of whom are facility residents. Eighteen of the facility’s 95 residents tested negative.

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for news alerts from WTOP
• Closings and delays
• Maryland stay-at-home order: What’s allowed
• Virginia stay-at-home order: What’s allowed
• What businesses can stay open in DC?
• What businesses can stay open in Maryland?
• What businesses can stay open in Virginia?
• Traffic and transit changes in D.C., Md. and Va. during coronavirus response
• Coronavirus test results in D.C., Maryland and Virginia
• Coronavirus FAQ: What you need to know

National

Social Security recipients won’t need to file tax return to get stimulus check

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service said on Wednesday that those who receive Social Security benefits and aren’t typically required to file a tax return will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive a coronavirus stimulus check. Instead, their checks will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts, or they will get a paper check.

“Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return do not to need take any action, and will receive their payment directly to their bank account,” Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement.

Information on Form SSA-1099 and Form RRB-1099 will be used to generate a payment of $1,200.

Trump said ‘life and death’ at stake in following guidelines

President Donald Trump warned Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks” ahead as the White House projected there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

Public health officials stressed Tuesday that the number could be less if people across the country bear down on keeping their distance from one another.

“We really believe we can do a lot better than that,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force. That would require all Americans to take seriously their role in preventing the spread of disease, she said.

Added Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, “This is a number that we need to anticipate, but we don’t necessarily have to accept it as being inevitable.”

Trump called it “a matter of life and death” for Americans to heed his administration’s guidelines and predicted the country would soon see a “light at the end of the tunnel” in a pandemic that in the United States has infected about 190,000 people and killed more than 4,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Read the full story.

U.S. to deploy anti-drug Navy ships near Venezuela

Before Wednesday’s coronavirus task force briefing, Trump announced that Navy ships are being moved toward Venezuela as his administration beefs up counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro.

The mission involves sending additional Navy warships, surveillance aircraft and special forces teams to nearly double the U.S. counter-narcotics capacity in the Western Hemisphere, with forces operating both in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

Read the full story from The Associated Press here.

White House projects 100K to 240K U.S. deaths from virus

The White House on Tuesday projected 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

President Donald Trump called on Americans to brace themselves for a “rough two-week period” but predicted the country would soon see a “light at the end of the tunnel” of the global catastrophe that has killed more than 3,500 Americans and infected 170,000 more.

Read the full story from The Associated Press here.

WTOP’s Abigail Constantino, Rick Massimo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.